Slow Burn
by Mister Bloom
Summary: Astrid has a sudden and startling realisation about her best friend. Old thoughts and feelings that she was sure she had buried within herself years ago are starting to surface. So, what's she going to do about it?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello and welcome! I'm not a big fan of large author's notes so I'll keep this short. Some things to note: they're 18-ish in this story so feel free to imagine the characters as they appear in Race To The Edge, events from RTTE have no bearing on this plot, and lastly, this is told from Astrid's perspective, mostly because I think it would be fun to explore the development of her emotional side between the first and second movies. So, with that out of the way – enjoy!**

Slow Burn – Chapter 1

This is Berk. Located on the Meridian of Misery it's twelve days north of Nowhere and nine days south of Freezing to Death. Home to the Hairy Hooligan tribe for seven generations, this hulk of rock, where it snows for nine months of the year and hails for the other three, continues to endure. The food that grows here is tough and tasteless, like most of the people that live here. Well, they're Vikings after all, and you'll find that stubbornness is a common Viking trait. The only upside are the pets. Unlike most places that opt for cats, dogs and in some places, goats, the people of Berk have dragons. Real fire breathing dragons.

This wasn't always the case. For three hundred odd years, the Vikings of Berk had fought a seemingly never-ending war against the creatures. It took the bravest, most determined, stubborn and unviking-est Viking in all of Berk's history to end the war. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third had shot down a Night Fury (no one believed him), trained it in secret, built it a prosthetic tail and saddle so he could fly it, placed first in dragon training (no one could believe it), discovered the dragons nest and defeated its formidable queen the Red Death, thus making himself a hero overnight. Hiccup had managed to achieve in a few short weeks what seven generations of Berkians had been trying to achieve in three hundred or so years, and in doing so had turned life on Berk upside down. Dragon fighting and killing quickly became a thing of the past and dragon training took its place. The tribe's chief and Hiccup's father, Stoick the Vast had taken to calling the young dragon authority the Pride of Berk.

And it was the Pride of Berk that had Berk's fiercest warrior, the fearless Astrid Hofferson, in a tangle. Not a physical tangle that Astrid could swing her trusty axe at and resolve in seconds. Hofferson's were good with axes; if you had a problem, you took an axe to it and presto, problem solved. Only, an axe wouldn't do any good for this problem. No, this was a matter of the heart that Astrid had to solve on her own. Astrid lay on her bed staring up at the rafters, re-playing in her mind the moment when her own world had turned upside down.

It had happened a week ago. Everything and everyone had been in its place still; Fishlegs was the group's dragon lexicon, Snotlout was obnoxious (typical of a Jorgenson), Ruffnut and Tuffnut were devoting themselves to Loki and Hiccup was their dorky, clumsy and adorable leader. The day had started just like any other with the sun rising over the hills and Astrid emerging from her house early in the morning to tend to her beloved dragon, Stormfly, currently housed in the stables. Astrid was busy securing her saddle on to Stormfly when Hiccup appeared in the entry way, and when she glanced up to see Hiccup smiling and walking towards her, time slowed and everything else seemed to fade into the background. Astrid stared at him as though she was seeing him for the first time.

Dorky, clumsy and adorable Hiccup had apparently been replaced overnight. The young man making his way down the stairs towards her had a squarer jaw and broader shoulders, a leaner and taller body than Astrid could remember the other Hiccup had ever possessed. His reddish-brown hair shone when the early morning sun caught it and the lopsided smile made his eyes warm and bright. She watched as he stopped to grab a basket of fish for Toothless, lifting it easily and swinging the basket over his shoulder, and couldn't help but notice -and then appreciate- how the shoulder straps made his tunic and leathers cling a little tighter to his chest and arms. Astrid felt her breath hitch in her throat and her face flush as an intense feeling of – of _something_ \- crashed into her, making her stomach flip flop and her heart rate increase. Realising she was staring Astrid tore her eyes away, commanded herself to start breathing again, and then to check the buckle she had been fastening before Hiccup the Distraction had appeared.

"Good morning, milady," Hiccup greeted her warmly, sticking his head through the doorway of Stormfly's stable. Astrid glanced up quickly, forced her brain and mouth to function properly and quickly murmured "Good morning, Hiccup," back to him. He turned away for a moment to check on Toothless, who was still sound asleep next door.

"So, what do you say to an early morning flight once Toothless wakes up?" Hiccup asked her. She glanced up again to find him standing right next to her, giving Stormfly a good scratch. He turned to face her, his eyes looking right into hers and the intense feeling crashed right into her again.

"Huh? Oh – oh yeah! Sounds great!" Astrid heard herself reply, her voice an octave higher than normal. She turned away quickly, hoping that he would go and check on Toothless, so she could have just a moment to compose herself.

"Astrid? Are you okay?" No such luck.

"Ye-yes, Hiccup, I'm fine," Astrid said hurriedly, snatching up a brush and starting to run the bristles over Stormfly's tail. "Perfectly okay!"

"Are you sure? Your face is a bit flushed," Hiccup persisted. Observant wasn't he, Astrid thought drily. She took a breath that she hoped he didn't see to calm herself for a moment. "Thanks, Hiccup, but really, I'm okay," she gave him an encouraging smile. "Go check on Toothless and see if he's going to wake up before midday."

Grinning at her and seemingly satisfied that she was acting normal again, Hiccup left her to go and check on his own dragon. Astrid darted around to Stormflys other side and let out a slow, deep breath. Her mind was racing.

What. The. Hell. Had. Just. Happened?

When in Thor's name had Hiccup gone from being, well, a hiccup, to being a man? When did he develop shoulders and arms that actually had a bit of muscle definition to them? When did his hair grow out and stop looking like it was swimming around his face? And when did he get taller than her? Had she been walking around blindfolded for the last three years? But of course, regardless of when these changes took place, the bigger questions were why was she noticing them now, and why was it causing her to react the way she was?

Astrid took a deep breath. She needed to think about this and carefully analyse the situation right now.

"Hey bud! Good morning!" Only she couldn't, because she had just agreed to go flying with Hiccup.

"Great," Astrid muttered as she rubbed her temple with her fingers. She idly wondered how Hiccup's fingers would feel on her skin. _Stop it! _A voice in the back of her mind screamed at the scandalizing thought. She peeked over Stormfly's back, anxious that Hiccup could hear her thoughts (even though it registered in the very back of her mind that the idea of someone being able to _hear_ another person's thoughts was complete nonsense, like something the twins would come up with) and would immediately to take her to Gothi to have her assessed for thinking such things. Thankfully, he was oblivious to the secret inner workings of her mind and was preparing Toothless for their morning flight.

Astrid ducked out of sight again. Maybe she and Stormfly could make a stealthy exit whilst Hiccup was busy? No, that would just be mean. Besides it wasn't Hiccup's fault she was feeling out of sorts. Okay, she told herself sternly. New plan: get the early morning flight over with as quickly as possible, whilst acting as normal as possible, dream up some excuse to get away from Hiccup and then find a nice, private spot to work out what the hell is wrong with me this morning.

Astrid lead Stormfly out of her stable and the Nadder took advantage of the larger space to stretch her wings out and preen a little. Astrid scratched her dragons flank absentmindedly. She risked another peek at Hiccup and couldn't help but smile softly at the playful way dragon and rider interacted with one another.

Astrid giggled quietly to herself as Hiccup and Toothless jumped around, attempting to wrestle, with Hiccup providing a running commentary. "The Night Fury tries to jab with his right – OH! But he misses! Quickly-the viking makes his move!" Hiccup reached up under the dragons jaw, tickling and scratching Toothless' neck. Toothless gave a happy warble and flopped right over onto his back, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, tail twitching. "Oh no! Toothless-come on bud! I hadn't finished fastening the saddle yet! Aaaand the mighty dragon has been undone by a tickle to his neck." Hiccup sighed. Toothless gave a disgruntled snort. "Ohhhh what's wrong, you big sook? You want more scratches, is that what you want? Huh, is it? Okay you big baby!" Hiccup flattened himself against Toothless' exposed belly and proceeded to scratch his hands all over the dragons scales, much to the Night Fury's delight.

Astrid tried to hide her snort of laughter behind her hand but to no avail; Hiccup heard it and glanced up at her grinning.

"Hey, I'm not the only one who does the whole baby talk and scratches thing."

"I-I don't do that," Astrid said quickly. She stilled her hand on Stormfly's flank. Stormfly gave an ill-timed squawk of discontent as the scratches ceased. Okay, yes, she did the baby talk thing to Stormfly, but not all of the time! And besides, it was a private thing just between her and Stormfly. Astrid might have softened a teensy bit since dragon training, but she was still a badass warrior who had an image to maintain after all, and she wasn't going to let Hiccup get under her skin about it.

Hiccup grinned. "Yes you do!"

"No I don't," Astrid retorted. She glared at him and turned back to Stormfly, hoping he would stop his teasing.

"I've seen you do it."

Astrid turned back to him, eyes wide. "What? When?" She asked sharply. Wincing, she realised her mistake.

"Obviously when you thought no one was looking." He was smiling like a kid at Snoggletog with a brand new helmet, clearly impressed with himself for irritating her. Astrid turned back to Stormfly, flustered. Was Hiccup flirting with her? She let the idea go as soon as it entered her head. She had too much to think about already without adding _that_ to the pile.

Hiccup chuckled softly. "Oh come on Astrid," he said gently. "It's not that big of a deal. Besides, I'm not going to tell anyone. Can't have anything crack that tough, fearless Hofferson outer shell now can we?" Astrid clenched her fist and he changed tact quickly. "Besides, you can laugh at me all you want milady, but you were watching a dragon master and his dragon at work!"

Astrid didn't blush this time when she looked back at him, instead she arched an eyebrow at his comment and decided to play along. "Dragon master?"

"Yep."

Astrid folded her arms over her chest. "And what makes you a dragon master?"

Hiccup got to his feet and waltzed confidently around Toothless, leaned against the saddle and perched one hand on his hip. "Well," he drawled slowly, "I did kinda stop a three hundred year war by taming a Night Fury, not to mention showing tribes all across the archipelago since then, how to live in peace with dragons. Also-" he hesitated, a cheeky smile slowly breaking out onto his face.

"Also?" Astrid prompted with a wave of her hand.

"Also, Stormfly has never beaten Toothless in a race. So there."

And just like that, all the fluttery butterfly feelings that had taken up residence in her stomach since Hiccup arrived that morning disappeared. Astrid narrowed her eyes at Hiccup. "Um, sorry to burst your bubble oh great dragon master," Astrid began with heavy sarcasm. "But yes we have."

Hiccup tapped a finger to his chin, deep in mock thought. "No, no, I don't think so. I would remember something like that."

"I won all of the dragon races last season!" Astrid huffed.

Hiccup gave a non-committal shrug. "Doesn't count."

Astrid glared at him. First he shows up looking like…like…_really hot? _part of her brain supplied. Yes, okay, fine. First he shows up looking really hot, which causes her to lose all train of rational thought. Then, he jumps around in his dragon's stable like the adorable dork he is and now he's telling her she's never beaten him in a race? Oh no, Astrid was not having any of this. Order had to be restored to her universe as quickly as possible. Tossing her braid over her shoulder in the most haughty manner she could muster in her flustered state, Astrid climbed into Stormfly's saddle and stared down her competition. "Fine," she bit out. "Let's settle this right here, right now."

"I was so hoping you would say that," Hiccup smiled. He turned to Toothless. "Come on bud, Astrid and Stormfly think they can take us." He gave his dragon a wink unseen by Astrid. Toothless righted himself and jumped out of his stable. Hiccup whispered in his ear as he knelt down to fasten the buckle. "Let's make it close, bud. Just enough to really annoy her."

"What are you whispering about?"

"Uhh, nothing! I'm just telling Toothless to give it absolutely everything he's got so-"

Astrid cut him off. "So when Stormfly and I win, I'll know it's because you didn't let me win?"

"Right, right," Hiccup laughed. He climbed into Toothless' saddle. "Alright Astrid, your challenge, your conditions."

"One lap around the island, through the sea stacks, no going around them. Start and finish back here. Agreed?"

Hiccup nodded. "Agreed." Toothless and Stormfly looked at each other, bowed their heads, trilled and warbled at each other in mutual respect for one another.

"Could learn something from your dragon there, Haddock."

"I'll expect full acceptance of my dragon mastery after I win, Hofferson."

"Enough talk, let's race! On three; one, two, three!"

There was a commotion of soaring wings, laughter and yelling as the two dragons took off and sped out of the stables, their riders gripping their saddles and urging their dragons on.

"Come on girl, we can beat those two!"

"Like we planned, bud."

Astrid knew the race would be close. She accepted that she and Stormfly would struggle to beat Hiccup and Toothless in a straight line race, the Night Fury was just so quick. But she also knew that Stormfly's agility would have the advantage navigating through the sea stacks before the last turn into the stables. So long as she was level with Hiccup before the sea stacks, Astrid was confident of a victory.

They were level at the first turn and sped past the village. Any Berkians out this early wouldn't be phased by what they saw, the was truly a regular occurrence now. Only Mildew would be likely to complain. Into the next turn and they zoomed around the forest, trees rattling as they flew past. They were still level but Hiccup and Toothless pulled ahead gradually as the flight path straightened out a little.

"Give up yet?" Hiccup called over to her, a grin on his face.

"Never! Come on Stormfly, we can get them!" Astrid yelled back, eyes firmly focused ahead of her.

They rounded the next corner. Astrid and Stormfly had closed the gap a little. "Okay girl, the sea stacks are after the next turn, we need to be in front, let's make our move!"

Stormfly put on a burst of speed and Astrid flattened herself as much as she could against the saddle. They raced past Hiccup and Toothless to take the lead and then turned sharply at the final corner. "Come on girl, keep it up! You can do it!" Astrid urged. Stormfly twisted, turned and barrel rolled her way through the sea stacks at break neck speed; Astrid's knuckles were white from gripping the handlebar of her saddle so tightly. Stormfly sped past the last sea stack and began to climb into the air again, heading for the finish line. Astrid chanced a glance either side of her to see where Hiccup and Toothless were. She couldn't see them but the unmistakeable chinking sound that Toothless' saddle and tail made when Hiccup changed its position was behind her, and it sounded like it was getting closer.

"Come on Stormfly, we're nearly there!" The stables were in sight, less than 100 feet away. Stormfly beat her wings harder, but she was tiring, and Astrid threw herself against the saddle again.

_Chink! _Less than 50 feet to go...Hiccup and Toothless were just trailing behind her…

"Come on bud!" She heard Hiccup shout.

_Chink!_ Less than 20 Feet to go…Hiccup and Toothless were level…

10 feet to go…still level!

Five…four…three…two…one!

"AHHHHH!"

Both dragons and their riders came to a screeching halt on the runway, nearly cleaning up Fishlegs in the process had Meatlug not grabbed her rider and pulled him into the air for safety.

"What are you two doing?" Fishlegs cried out indignantly. "Trying to kill me?"

Hiccup and Astrid quickly dismounted, the result of the race temporarily forgotten.

"Sorry Fishlegs!" Hiccup called up to his friend apologetically. "Just an early morning race is all."

Meatlug and Fishlegs descended back to the ground. "A race huh? Gee, wonder who's idea that must have been," Fishlegs said exasperated, glancing at Astrid who offered a small, apologetic smile.

"We are sorry, Fishlegs," Astrid said. "We didn't mean to startle or unintentionally injure you."

"Or Meatlug," Hiccup hurriedly added on. Astrid nodded her head fervently in agreement.

Fishlegs smiled and shrugged. "Meh, it's okay. No harm done to either of us." He gave Meatlug an affectionate smile.

"Sooo um, I don't suppose you saw from up there who won did you?" Astrid asked quietly, a hint of guilt in her voice.

Fishlegs rolled his eyes. "It was a draw," he replied tonelessly.

Astrid folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at Fishlegs. "Are you sure?"

"Oh for Thor's sake- _yes_ I am sure," Fishlegs said exasperated. "And if you ask me again I'll state that Hiccup was the winner, even though it was a tie."

Astrid gave the large blonde Viking a guilty smile. "Sorry again, Fishlegs." Well, she and Stormfly hadn't lost, but they hadn't won either. That was slightly more annoying.

"Come on Meaty, I've bought you a selection of your favourite rocks for breakfast." Fishlegs cooed to his dragon as they both retreated into the stables.

Hiccup appeared at her side and put his hand out to her. "That was a fine race, milady." Astrid rolled her eyes and accepted his hand without thinking. Suddenly the butterflies were back. His larger hand wrapped around her slender fingers perfectly and despite the calluses from blacksmithing, his hand felt soft somehow. It felt right and she didn't want to let go.

"Um, Astrid? You can let go of my hand now. Or-or not, you know," Hiccup said softly, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. Astrid yanked her hand away quickly and she felt her face heat up. Hiccup quickly filled the awkward silence that was starting to settle between them.

"You know the result doesn't really matter, I think you're a great rider regardless. I really do! That was a pretty clever tactic to try and use Stormfly's agility to open up a lead through the sea stacks. I'll have to remember that for next time." Astrid barely heard a word he was saying. His eyes and his smile were drawing her attention again. The butterflies were not only back, they were swooping around in her stomach.

"Uh, yeah thanks Hiccup," she heard herself say. Her brain had started working again and was barking orders. The plan! The race is over, let's get out of here!

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hiccup tried again. "You've seemed a bit off since I found you this morning. Did I-?"

"No! No, of course you didn't," Astrid cut him off sharply, retreated to Stormfly's side and climbed into the saddle. "I'm okay, Hiccup, really I am! You didn't upset me, I just have a lot on my mind. It's a personal thing," she said hurriedly.

"Oh," Hiccup gave a small smile. "Well, okay. You know you can talk to me, right?"

"I know. This-this is just something I need to do on my own." She fiddled with the hem of her tunic.

"Well, if you change your mind you know where to find me. I'll see you later, right?"

Astrid smiled. "Of course you will." Hiccup's face brightened with her answer.

Without another word, she turned Stormfly back towards the ocean and they took off towards the horizon. Astrid hoped that when she returned, everything and everyone would be in its place as it had been the day before.

**Thanks for reading! Until next time! (And there will be more of this, I'm just not totally sure what the rest of this looks like just yet, but I'll work it out)**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any HTTYD properties.

Tiny author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed.

Slow Burn – Chapter 2

"There girl, up ahead!"

An island crept into view, peaking over the horizon. Astrid breathed a sigh of relief; they had been flying for an hour over the vast ocean and Astrid knew her dragon would start to tire soon. Stormfly squawked and made a bee line for the island. Astrid narrowed her eyes straining to see if she could recognise any of the islands' landmarks. Nothing looked familiar, but islands with mountain peaks and forests were extremely common across the archipelago. "I know you're tired girl, but let's do a quick sweep over the island to make sure it's safe to land, okay?" Astrid patted Stormfly's head softly, who returned a noise of begrudging agreement. "And I'll feed you as much chicken as you want tonight." There was a happy trill as the sweetener was thrown in, and the island's treetops came closer into view. The island was quickly deemed safe and Stormfly landed on the edge of a forest.

Astrid pulled her axe from her saddle's holster and dismounted quickly. In her haste to get away from Berk this morning, she hadn't packed the items one usually needed for long flights, like waterskins. Her mouth was dry and Stormfly needed water after such a long flight. Astrid moved closer to the edge of the forest where the trees weren't so close together. A gentle breeze was blowing, carrying the sounds of life on the island and Astrid smiled as she heard the sound of running water. "Stormfly!" she called back over her shoulder. "This way girl!"

Rider and dragon picked there way through the trees and a few short minutes later came upon a clearing. A small stream flowed down from the forest's higher ground into a lake. Trees, rocks and stone walls lined the lake all of the way around. It reminded Astrid of the cove where she had discovered Hiccup had been hiding Toothless. Stormfly ducked her head into the lake and drank deeply, Astrid kneeling right next to her drinking from her cupped hands. Stormfly waded into the water, trilling happily. The cold water was a welcome reward after a hard morning of flying. Astrid retreated into the shade of the trees and flopped down onto the grass.

Astrid leaned back against a tree and sighed heavily. Time to confront the reason for this excursion. Apparently she had woken up this morning and found her best friend to be a very attractive young man. Which had been startling, to say the least. She had acted weird around him, found herself distracted by him, butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach and worst of all, he suspected something was up! This had _never_ happened before. Well actually, a tiny voice in the back of her mind spoke up, that isn't entirely true. You've tied yourself in knots and acted weird because of Hiccup before, the voice continued. Astrid looked out over the lake and cast her mind back.

_Astrid marched proudly through the village carrying an axe over her shoulder. She allowed a tiny, self-satisfied smile to grace her lips. Today the twelve year old Vikings had sat their final examinations for weapons training and all of Astrid's hard work and training had paid off. She had aced every test with every weapon and broken a long standing record during the axe exam. The previous record holder had been the Chief himself and Hoark the weapons master had declared Astrid the best graduate he'd seen in years. The village was throwing a celebration tonight in honour of the latest graduates in the Great Hall. _

_As far as Astrid was concerned, this was a small milestone in her mission to become the best warrior and dragon killer Berk had ever seen. Ever since she had been a little girl and held an axe for the first time, there had been this unwavering determination to be the best. Her Uncle Finn's passing made her all the more dedicated and regimented; she was on a mission to restore honour to her family's name and absolutely nothing was going to get in her way. The next part of the plan was to place first in dragon training, even if that was a few years away. She and the other kids would be able to help during raids now by being part of the house fire patrol. Astrid couldn't wait for a chance to prove herself capable and dependable during a raid. Excited and pleased with herself, Astrid made her way up the stairs to the Great Hall. She picked her way through the crowd towards her family. They'd taken up a whole table to themselves; aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, Mum and Dad. _

"_O-ho! Here she is!" Her father boomed as soon as he saw her. "The talk of the village! If you don't become the best dragon killer Berk has ever seen I'll eat my helmet!" Astrid struggled to breathe as her father enveloped her in a rib breaking embrace. She grinned back at him as he released her, not caring that her sides hurt (but only a little bit). As her father turned back to his tankard, her mother swooped in to congratulate her with a more rib-friendly hug._

"_Oh congratulations Astrid! I'm so proud of you!"_

"_Thanks Mum, I couldn't have done it without you letting me borrow your axe." Astrid pulled the weapon from her back and held it out to her mother to take._

_Her mother waved her hand dismissively and smiled proudly. "Nonsense. And keep the axe dear, I want you to have it."_

"_But, what about-"_

_Her father appeared at her mother's shoulder. "Tell you what, because I think you deserve a reward, I'll ask Gobber to make you your very own axe. How does that sound, eh?"_

_Astrid grinned so hard her cheeks ached. "Really? Oh, would you Dad? Ohhh this is the best!" Her father chuckled at her reaction. "I'll flag him down later and ask. Now come on, have a seat, the rest of the family want to say hello."_

_Astrid took a seat in the middle of the table and was immediately bombarded with congratulations and questions. The constant attention got a bit much after a while and Astrid was grateful when dinner was finally served and the celebrations were in full swing. Families and friends were starting to mingle in their own break off groups, instruments had been unearthed and music was playing, and the gap between the head table and the large fire pit in the middle of the Great Hall had been declared a dance floor. Astrid twisted around in her seat, wondering where each of her friends were._

_Snotlout was sitting next to his father, head down with his stocky arms folded moodily. His father was talking animatedly beside him, but judging by their body language, Astrid strongly suspected the younger Lout was being chastised for not placing first in weapons training. Astrid felt little sympathy for the black haired boy. His father had very high expectations, so did both of her parents, but the difference was that Snotlout didn't train or dedicate himself to anywhere near the level that Astrid did, yet he always crowed that he was superior to his peers. Even so, that did not look like a fun conversation to be apart of. _

_Further along the twins were arguing over who had got in each other's way more during the exams today. "No, no way you were more annoying than me today sis," Tuffnut stated with a shake of his head._

"_I was too, butt-elf! I broke your own spear over your head and dented your favourite helmet!" Ruffnut countered._

"_What?! My favourite helmet is dented!"_

"_Yeah, matches your dented skull from all the times you were dropped on your head as a baby, Dentnut! That's your new name from now on. Dentnut! Dentnut! Dentnut!" _

_The argument continued and became a wrestling match between the two, spilling onto the floor beneath their table. Astrid rolled her eyes. The twins, she had always thought privately, could have been anything they wanted as they weren't as completely hopeless as they lead everyone to believe. They showed very good skill with their weapons, and came out with the most obscure facts and observations at times. However, it was apparent that they wanted to channel all of that into being the biggest pranksters and general nuisances on Berk. They were well on their way to accomplishing that goal._

_Fishlegs was sitting with his family on the other side of the hall. A thick, leather bound book that Astrid immediately recognised as the dragon manual, was propped up against a tankard in front of him and his eyes were busy avidly taking in every word on the page. The larger boy lacked a bit in the courage department and was the most introverted of their group, but Astrid knew that she could count on Fishlegs for common sense and intelligent conversation. Well, when he wasn't reading or trying to gain Snotlout's approval in the hope the other boy would leave him alone and pick on someone else. In a way, Fishlegs reminded her a lot of-_

"_So here's the promising young warrior who broke my record today," A voice spoke from her left._

_Astrid whipped her head around to find herself face to face with the Chief. "Chief!" she exclaimed, surprised to see him standing behind her. Her cheeks reddened. She had not expected to have the Chief come and speak to her personally. "You're um, you're not mad are you?" She queried hesitantly as she turned in her seat to face him properly._

_Stoick gave a great shout of laughter. "Thor no lass! Records are made to be broken, remember that," he smiled widely at her. "If anything, I am very pleased that in a few years' time I'll have an extremely skilled and capable warrior to help protect Berk from the dragon raids. Berk's going to need strong future leaders like you."_

_Astrid flushed, but before she could open her mouth to thank the Chief for his kind words, there was an interruption._

"_Dad!"_

_Astrid's insides froze. It was him. 'Oh no! She thought desperately. 'Not now, not here, not in front of the Chief!'_

_If Astrid was the undisputed best Viking of her age, then Hiccup was undoubtedly the worst. He couldn't hold a weapon to defend himself, his physique resembled that of a fishbone and he seemed to cause problems and headaches for the whole village by simply not being able to fit in with Viking traditions and customs. And yet, despite his very obvious short comings, Astrid had a tiny crush on the boy._

_This was her most closely guarded secret. No one (save for the Gods) knew about this. No one could know about this! She wasn't sure when it had started exactly, because they rarely ever spoke and Astrid always used the excuse she was going to train to get out of any situation that would involve spending time alone with Hiccup, but there was this curiosity about Hiccup that she couldn't pull away from. He wasn't like Snotlout, Fishlegs or Tuffnut. Hel the boy wasn't like anyone on Berk! He was dorky, clumsy, and scrawny and there should not have been a single thing about him that Astrid liked._

_Except that he had bright green eyes that could focus very intently when he was working on something in the forge. And he was kind to everyone in the village even though he wasn't afforded the same treatment by many. He had a sharp, dry wit that he could easily confuse Snotlout with when the stockier boy tried to taunt him about being useless. And he tried so hard at everything, even though his successes were few and far between._

_Astrid noticed a fair bit about a boy she rarely spent time with. That magnetic curiosity attracted her to him every single time she saw him, and it frustrated her to no end. He was the worst Viking Berk had ever seen! Who was he to make her insides freeze, or wriggle, or make her cheeks turn pink? Astrid did her best to avoid him most of the time, lest she say or do something to give herself away. She always felt on edge when he was around her, as if someone walking by could look at her and instantly know how she felt about Hiccup, and her most guarded secret would be out of the bag. It seemed to work, her friends just assumed she thought the same about Hiccup as they did, and whenever he was in her vicinity, he was a stuttering mess and couldn't hold a conversation with her anyway, so no one could really suspect anything, could they? Hiccup was standing on the opposite side of the table to her, facing his father, and he hadn't seen her yet. Astrid started shifting over slowly to put as much room between herself and Hiccup as possible, but without wanting to appear rude to the Chief. _

"_Ah, Hiccup, there you are lad."_

"_Dad I want to show you-"_

_Stoick waved a hand dismissively. "Not now son, in a minute-"_

"_But this will only take a minute! I've redrawn plans for the bola machine I made!" Hiccup unfurled a sheaf of paper onto the table containing some very detailed schematic plans and complex calculations. It was quite impressive. "I've changed the trigger mechanisation which meant I had to recalculate the calibration..." Astrid had no idea what he was on about, but she had never heard Hiccup speak so confidently or passionately about anything before. She peered around Stoick to sneak a glance at him. His face was shining and his eyes were wide with excitement. It was, well, kind of cute. Astrid quickly bent her face over her mug in embarrassment and decided that the contents was very interesting._

"_Enough!" Stoick barked, an enormous hand smacking the table. Astrid jumped slightly before scolding herself. Hiccup abruptly shut up. "Is this," Stoick pointed an accusatory finger at the map and then at Hiccup. "What you were doing when I was looking for you this afternoon because you were neglecting your chores?"_

"_I-I wasn't neglecting them Dad, I just lost track of time," Hiccup protested. His confidence was deflating quickly._

"_And have you done any of the training exercises I set out for you this week?" Stoick ploughed on. Beside him, Astrid was inching over to her right, feeling very awkward about the conversation unfolding next to her._

_Hiccup rubbed his upper arm nervously. "Well, no-but only because it was busy in the forge-"_

"_Hiccup!" Stoick growled. He took a deep breath. "Son," he began again, not as harsh but his voice was heavy with frustration. "Son- this," he pointed to the schematic again. "Isn't going to help you. If you want to be a dragon fighter, you need to train our way. I don't want to hear any more about plans or sword throwing machines or any other nonsense. I want to hear that you're working hard in the forge and that you're training hard with the exercises I give you. Is that clear?"_

"_Everyone on the this island knows I can't hold a sword, let alone fight with one!" He did that thing with his shoulders and hands, gesturing at the drawing. "This'll do it for me!"_

_His protest went unheard. "Do you know what Astrid did today, Hiccup?" Hiccup's head snapped over to her, just realising she was there. His face immediately turned several shades of red as their eyes met briefly before both of the young Vikings turned away quickly. Hiccup shook his head 'no'. Astrid wanted the ground to open up and swallow her._

"_Astrid broke a weapons training record today that has stood for over twenty years! She's the top of her class Hiccup, because she works hard. So, there will be less drawing plans for machines and more training, son. Is that understood?"_

_Hiccup lowered his head. "Yeah, Dad."_

_Stoick turned back to Astrid. "Congratulations again, lass. Enjoy the celebrations." Astrid uttered a soft thank you as he left the table. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Hiccup, who watched with a dejected face as his father disappeared into the crowd. He reached out to take the plans off of the table when he saw Astrid was looking at him, causing him to flush red in embarrassment and retreat from the table in a hurry, knocking over a tankard of mead and stumbling into people in the process. Before she could stop herself, Astrid had snatched up the plans, rolling the paper tightly in her hands and quickly went after Hiccup. No doubt the way he made her feel whenever he was around frustrated and confused her, but there was just something about the way he had spoken about the stupid bola throwing machine, and maybe she just wanted to see it again. She caught him just as he reached the doors._

"_Hiccup!" _

_He turned around, wondering where the voice had come from. His eyes widened in disbelief as Astrid stopped in front of him and thrust the roll of paper at him._

"_Here."_

"_As-Astrid! What uhh, what are you doing?"_

_She jabbed the paper into his stomach. "Take it you idiot before your dad or anyone else sees!" She hissed. _

"_Oh-oh right." He took the paper from her and tucked it into his vest. Their eyes met again and an awkward silence settled between the two. They both started talking at the same time._

"_Well um, thanks for that-"_

"_I better get back to my family-"_

"_Oh-oh yeah, sure. Um, hey-hey Astrid?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Thanks, and uh, congratulations. " He gave her a toothy, nervous smile and it made his eyes brighten and shine like they had a few moments ago. Her stomach wriggled and she fought hard not to return the smile._

"_Thanks." Astrid turned on her heel and returned to her seat. For the rest of the night though, she pondered what else there was about Hiccup to learn and to like. _

Astrid chuckled humourlessly to herself at the memory. Hiccup had certainly thrown a spanner in the works of her goal of becoming the best dragon killer Berk had ever seen. But it had lead to close friendships she had never thought possible, and a peace with the dragons that she couldn't have ever imagined. She'd been well aware of her crush on Hiccup and how it affected her, but she got better at controlling it. Her fear of anyone finding out about her feelings slowly dissipated. Hiccups presence hadn't caused her insides to flutter for years, even before they became close friends. She had shut her mind off to it, or something like that. And yet this morning, it was like there were 100 butterflies or more in her stomach and they all beat their wings at the same time Hiccup smiled or laughed or touched her. She felt like she was twelve again, sitting at that table in the Great Hall, being enthralled by Hiccup and hoping no one knew about it.

Maybe her crush had never really gone away. Maybe it just stayed dormant for all of this time. Or maybe her hormones were out of whack and this was just some over reaction to a sudden realisation that Hiccup could fill his pants out a little better now. Or maybe it was a passing thing.

Astrid leaned her head into her hands and groaned. "Ugh, what am I going to do?" There was a soft trill and a gentle nudge from a Nadder horn. Astrid looked up to find her dragon curled up next to her, looking very refreshed after her swim. "Ohh, hey there girl. How was your swim? Do you feel better now?" Astrid cooed softly as she scratched Stormfly's neck. Stormfly replied in the affirmative and lapped up the attention. Astrid sighed. "I wish you could help me with this problem Stormfly, because I have no idea what to do and I am getting absolutely nowhere. I think I need Ruff's help." Stormfly raised her head and stared at her rider in disbelief. Astrid laughed. "I know, girl. I can't believe I just said that either. But it's been a weird day so far, so just go with it okay?" Stormfly trilled affectionately as Astrid got to her feet and climbed into her saddle. "Let's go home girl!"

I hope everyone found that enjoyable!

Please review, constructive feedback is always greatly appreciated.

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

A/N: This chapter is the longest yet, so if you need snacks, get them now. Also, when writing out Ruffnut's dialogue, I imagined her voice actor from RTTE and not KW. But you imagine it how you like it.

Slow Burn Chapter 3

At around about twelve years of age, the girls had both realised that the boys tended to be idiots sometimes and had started to seek out each other's company in refuge from their male counterparts. It was an odd friendship sure, but Astrid rationalised that all of her friends were weird in their own wonderful ways. Plus, there were some conversations that were easier to have with Ruffnut than with any of the boys. Astrid could not imagine any universe where she would be going to Snotlout for a chat about Hiccup being attractive to her all of a sudden. So immediately after landing back on Berk, Astrid had sought Ruffnut out and dragged her off to the Great Hall without too much of an explanation.

"Okay Ruff, you have to swear to me that you will not tell a living soul-not even Tuff-what I am about to tell you," Astrid said in a hushed voice.

"No sweat sister, I got your back. So tell me, what has got you frazzle-dazzled?"

Astrid took a moment to compose herself. "I think I like Hiccup!" Astrid said in an anguished whisper, her eyes darting around checking to see if anyone had overheard. It was the middle of the day and some of the villagers were taking lunch in the Great Hall. Even though they were seated in a corner at the back of the Hall and with an entire table to themselves, Astrid decided she couldn't be too careful.

Ruffnut smirked and her eyes sparkled with unmistakable Thorston mischief. "Ahhhh. Well, look who's joined the growing ranks of Berk's female population who have decided that our future chief is a bit scrumptious."

"Ruff! Keep your voice down!" Astrid hissed, glaring at her. "And I don't think Hiccup's scrumptious!" Her cheeks were dusted in a light shade of pink.

Ruffnut arched an eyebrow lazily. "You don't, huh?"

"Okay, _fine_," Astrid face softened a little, and the pink dust intensified. "I think he's attractive. Handsome even. Scrumptious is a bit – well, it's not what I would use to describe it."

"Give it time," Ruffnut quipped as she leaned forward conspiratorially. "So, what happened to make the love bug bite you?"

"Nothing dramatic," Astrid shrugged. "I was in the stables getting Stormfly ready for a morning flight and Hiccup walked in and…"

"And?" Ruffnut pressed eagerly.

"And…I just realised he was different now. In a good way. Like he had grown up overnight or something. It-it's like this morning I stopped seeing him how he used to be a few years ago, you know? And I saw a Hiccup that could be maybe more than my friend. Then I couldn't stop looking at him and my brain froze every time he spoke to me. I felt like the biggest mutton head. But then he started goofing around with Toothless in his dorky, adorable way and it was just…so cute." Astrid finished with her cheek leaning against her hand, a wistful, dreamy look on her face.

"Look at you all in love," Ruffnut teased. Astrid gave her an irritated look, bristling slightly. "I'm not in love, Ruff."

Ruffnut carried on, ignoring Astrid's denial. "And with our little Hiccup no less! Well, I guess he isn't so little no more as he's taller than all of us. Still, he's a lanky string bean, so therefore, still little. Anyway, I knew you had a thing for him! Do you know how long I've been waiting to have this conversation? Too long sister!"

"Oh you knew, huh?" Astrid said drily, folding her arms on the table top.

Ruffnut adopted a sage tone. "That's what this half of the Thorston twins does Astrid; I make mischief and I know things. The other half just makes mischief and knows nothing."

The two girls looked at each other and laughed. "So," Ruffnut started as their laughter subsided. "What are you going to tell him?"

Astrid's eyes widened. "What?"

"What are you going to tell Hiccup?" Ruffnut rephrased her question.

"I'm not going to tell him anything."

"Uhhh why not?"

"Ruff, I said I _think_ I like him. I don't really know how I feel. What am I going to do? March up to him and say, 'Hey Hiccup, how are you? Nice weather we're having isn't it? Oh, by the way, I think I like you, so let's go flying together sometime.'" Astrid shook her head. "I can't do that Ruff. What if I wake up next week or something and the feelings are gone?"

Ruffnut considered her friends words. "Well, I guess you're right. But, what are you going to do?"

"Ignore it. Avoid Hiccup so my brain can function and work this out. See if it goes away or hangs around." Astrid stated in a very businesslike manner.

"Wait, you already know what you're going to do? Why in the heck did you drag me up here then?" Ruffnut grouched, slightly miffed Astrid already had a plan. "Tuff and I were about to prank Snotlout!"

"Because I'll need you to help me keep tabs on where Hiccup is and help me come up with excuses to not hang out with him." Astrid explained.

"You'll also need someone to help you identify and eliminate potential threats," Ruffnut added, the familiar maniacal gleam sparking in her eyes.

"Um, threats?" Astrid asked confused.

"Have you seriously not listened to a word I've said?" Ruffnut sighed, exasperated. "Yes, threats-because whilst you haven't been paying attention to Hiccup until now, quite a few of the village girls have. You might have some competition, Hoff."

"And just who might this competition be?" Astrid asked, trying to keep her voice casual as she took a slightly aggressive bite from her bread roll.

"I don't know, there's too many of them to remember," Ruffnut waved her hand dismissively.

"What?!" Astrid practically screeched, nearly choking on her roll. Everyone in the hall turned to stare at the two girls. There was an awkward silence for several seconds before everyone turned back to their lunch, and the din of chatter returned to the hall.

"Sorry about that. Um, what?" The screech had been replaced by a menacing growl.

"Yeah, there's usually a group of them always hanging outside the window of Gobber's forge," Ruffnut explained.

The rest of the bread roll was dropped back onto the plate with a soft thud as Astrid rose from her seat. "Come on Ruff!"

"Oooooh I know that look! Are you going to kick some ass?" Ruffnut cackled excitedly.

"No, I am simply going to investigate this fan club Hiccup apparently has," Astrid replied, trying very hard to keep her voice neutral. "Now, come on."

"Hey, can I have the rest of the roll? It's sort of pre-chewed and that's my favourite."

"Ruffnut!"

Astrid strode out of the hall, stomped down the steps and marched through the village, Ruffnut at her heels. They squeezed into a narrow gap between two houses opposite the forge. Astrid's mouth fell open at the sight that greeted her. "What the!" she uttered in disbelief.

Gathered around the service window of Gobber's forge was a group of eight or nine giggling teenage girls, all jostling against each other trying to get to the front of the window.

"Hiccup, my saddle's too small, can you take my measurements and build me a new one?"

"Hiccup, do you give private flying lessons?"

"Hiccup, can you make my armour give me a little bit more shape?"

Astrid ground her teeth at the innuendo laden questions. She recognised some of these girls from the academy. Alva, Eira , Iona who was Fishlegs' cousin, Yuknut who was Ruffnut's cousin, Unn, and Tove. Astrid felt herself tense in annoyance. Tove was Snotlout's cousin on his mother's side. _This practically makes her a Jorgensen, _a little voice in her mind whispered. _And Hoffersons don't lose to Jorgensens at anything!_ "No we don't," Astrid murmured in fervent agreement.

"You say something Hoff?" Ruffnut enquired.

"Uh no," Astrid replied quickly. "I see your cousin over there."

"Ugh, I know. She's probably just following the crowd, giving in to peer pressure. I mean, it's _Hiccup_. What any of those girls could see in-," Ruffnut broke off, quailing under the glare Astrid was giving her. "I mean, do you want me to sort her out?" She hit her fist against her palm.

"No, not right now. And by the looks of it, Hiccup doesn't seem to be going for any of them." Astrid tried not to sound too relieved. "He looks more annoyed than anything else."

The auburn haired boy stood on the opposite side of the window, arms folded and a very frustrated expression on his face. The girls were becoming more aggressive trying to get to the front of the window.

"QUIET!" Hiccup shouted as loud as he could. The gang of girls fell silent immediately. Astrid and Ruffnut shared a surprised look; Hiccup hardly ever blew up at anyone like that, not even Snotlout.

"Ladies," he began in a much quieter but still terse tone. "This regular gathering at my window and asking for work to be done that really doesn't need to be done, is wearing my patience thin. I don't give private flying lessons because we have an academy for that. Your saddles are fine because I checked them last week and Ack, who is in charge of the armoury, can make you new armour if you need it." He drew a deep breath. "Now if that will be all, good bye!" Hiccup slammed the service window closed. There was a moment of stunned silence before the girls retreated, chatting amongst themselves.

"Wow," Ruffnut gaped. "Who knew Hiccup had that in him?"

"Yeah," Astrid agreed, eyes still fixed on the closed service window. Hiccup was the leader of the dragon riders, sure, and he gave them tasks and orders, but she'd never heard him speak in such an authoritative tone before. It was rather appealing.

"Sooooo," Ruffnut began.

"So what?"

"What are you still doing here? Get in there and mark your territory woman! Those little vultures will be back, trust me," Ruffnut implored.

Astrid sighed. "Ruff I already told you I don't know how I really feel, I can't go in there and 'mark my territory', as you say. Besides, it's only just after lunch and I feel exhausted. I've had a very emotionally draining day, and I still need to give Stormfly the chicken I promised her, clean her stable and do my chores at home."

"Hmm, I imagine waking up to find that you now have a crush on your best friend would take some adjusting to, as well as being quite the surprise," Ruffnut theorised, stroking her chin.

"You think?" Astrid gave a humourless laugh.

"No drama llama, I got your back and I got one eye on your competition. See you at dinner Hoff!"

"Thanks Ruff," Astrid waved goodbye as Ruffnut loped off and headed for the stables.

Stormfly was very happy to see her, trilling happily as Astrid dumped several baskets of chicken in front of her dragon. "A promise is a promise," Astrid chuckled. "But you earned it girl so enjoy it!" Stormfly squawked contentedly as she received scratches under her chin, thoroughly enjoying the attention.

As Stormfly tucked into her chicken, Astrid slowly set about cleaning Stormfly's stable, looking for anything to do to take her mind off of and keep her away from Hiccup. The stable however was already impeccably clean which left Astrid with nothing to do and before she knew it, her mind was back on Hiccup. Sighing in frustration, Astrid gently stroked Stormfly's chin. "I'm sorry girl, but I can't stay. I have to go and find something to do. Maybe we can go for another exploration flight tomorrow?" Stormfly crooned gently, indicating that she understood. Astrid got to her feet and hurried out of the stables.

Looking for chores to do at home resulted in the same restlessness. Her room was already clean, as was the rest of the Hofferson house. Feeling the urge to hit something, Astrid grabbed her axe and headed for her favourite part of the woods to train. Flinging her axe at the trees was satisfying in a way, as she hit her intended target every time, but her mind was still wandering back to Hiccup. As the sun went down, Astrid slowly walked back to her house to wash quickly before dinner.

Whilst training in the woods she had tried to come up with ideas for tasks she could do for a week that would keep her away from Hiccup. New academy class roster….no that would have to be approved by Hiccup before it could be implemented. Carry out a dragon census on Berk's dragon population…no, she'd have to involve Fishlegs who would then involve Hiccup so the two of them could geek out over statistics and data. Maybe she could just fly back to the island she'd found this morning for a week and explore for dragons… no that would raise too many questions, and there's no way the other riders would let her go alone, and if they were looking for dragons, there would be zero chance of keeping Hiccup away. It began to dawn on Astrid how much time she actually spent with Hiccup and avoiding him for a week, on an island no less, was going to be far more difficult than she initially thought. Feeling clean again, Astrid made her way to the Great Hall for dinner, her mind still mulling over her plan. 'No, you can do this,' she told herself as she climbed into a seat opposite Ruffnut. 'You need to do this!'

"Still sticking to your plan?" Ruffnut enquired softly.

"Yes," Astrid replied determined.

"So you're going to avoid Hiccup for a week and continue to let those little witches think they have a chance with our future chief?"

"It's the best course of action to make sure no one gets hurt or embarrassed-" Astrid stopped abruptly as she saw Hiccup approaching the table. Ruffnut smirked at her as Hiccup slid into the seat next to Astrid and then let his head fall to the table with a defeated groan.

"You're off to a great start," Ruffnut mouthed to her. Astrid threw her a glare back.

"Hey, um, Hiccup are you okay?" Astrid asked concerned.

"They won't leave me alone," came the muffled response.

"Who won't leave you alone?" Astrid already had a pretty fair idea of who he meant.

"Ugh," Hiccup lifted his head up from the table and reached for a mug of mead. "There's a group of girls from the academy that keep turning up at the forge window every single day asking me to help them with-" he paused briefly, choosing his next word carefully. "-_things_ that I cannot or do not want to do, and I have no idea how to make them leave me alone."

Astrid could practically feel the smugness radiating from Ruffnut; she didn't dare look at her. "Yeah I, uh, saw your little fan club today as I was passing the forge. I was pretty impressed by your shouting."

"Help me get rid of them, please!" he pleaded with her, eyes wide. "Gobber won't stop teasing me, I can't get any work done-" Hiccup paused, having just taken notice of Ruffnut's odd, staring smirk. "Um, uhh, are you okay there, Ruff?"

"I'm fine, you just keep doing what you're doing."

"Oookay then," Hiccup turned back to Astrid. "So, help me?"

"Of course!" the words were out of her mouth before she could even think.

"Great! Let's come up with something tomorrow!"

"Wait! Astrid, you can't help Hiccup tomorrow, you said you would help me tomorrow!" Ruffnut interrupted.

"Oh-oh yeah! I did tell Ruff I would help her with, with uh….what are we doing again tomorrow Ruff?" Astrid said hurriedly, fumbling over her words.

"We're going over some basic defensive flying manoeuvres since you commented last week how sloppy Tuff and I are lately," Ruffnut responded calmly. "Then the day after we're digging out a new boar pit behind the ol' Thorston family hut, then the day after _that_ we're going to wrangle us some boars for said pit!"

"Wow, that's quite a schedule," said Hiccup, surprised.

"Yep, sure is, but that's what I'm doing this week!" Astrid replied in a false cheery voice, both thankful for Ruff's inventive scheming but not looking forward to days two and three. The conversation paused as Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Snotlout joined them at the table.

"Bro! We're getting us a new boar pit! Astrid's going to help us dig it out!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!" The twins began to pump their arms up and down chanting "Boar pit! Boar pit! Boar pit!"

Fishlegs had launched into conversation with Hiccup about how the Gronkles he had been training lately had set a personal best today for flight speed.

"Oh my Thor Hiccup it was so amazing!" Fishlegs was beside himself with excitement. "I didn't think we could improve their speed this early into their training!"

"Hey, that's really cool Fishlegs! Any idea on what's causing such a rapid improvement?" Astrid watched Hiccup out of the corner of her eye as he and Fishlegs traded theories. He was very cute when geeking out about dragons. Her appreciation of her best friend was short lived as Snotlout chose that exact moment to saunter up to her, place one boot up on the seat next to her, prop his elbow up on his raised leg, lean his cheek into his palm and gave her the most smouldering look he could muster. Astrid stifled a laugh at his puckered lips and squinty eyes.

"Hey babe, did I tell you that you look amazing today? Because you do."

"Ugh, Snotlout-" Astrid began wearily, not in the mood for his feeble attempt at what he thought was flirting.

"Astrid, Astrid, Astrid," he continued airily as though he hadn't heard her. "Why do you continue to deny your feelings for me? It's obvious you're attracted to me!" Snotlout raised his other arm to flex his bicep, but was unaware of the viking behind him, carrying a bowl of stew. Snotlout knocked the bowl flying and the dish and its content landed all over Tuffnut.

Silence descended on the group as they waited for Tuffnut's reaction. He slowly picked the bowl off of his helmet, wiped stew from his face and fixed them all with a glare. "You know what this means," Tuffnut said, his lips curving into a mischievous smile. "FOOD FIGHT!" he bellowed at the top of his voice. The Great Hall immediately descended into chaos. Food was flung in every direction at everyone. Astrid felt a tap on her shoulder. Hiccup had swiped one of the large trays used for carrying mugs of mead to and from the tables and was using it as a shield. She shuffled down the bench and huddled behind the shield with Hiccup as mayhem swirled around them. His eyes connected with hers and Astrid felt the familiar swooping sensation in her stomach again. She didn't want to look away. Hooley dooly this was going to be a long week.

And it was. At first it wasn't so bad. Ruff's schedule actually seemed to be keeping her away from Hiccup. But by the time the boars were ready to be wrangled for the twins' new pit, she wasn't having much luck keeping Hiccup away from _her_. Hiccup kept popping up wherever she was to ask her to help him resolve whatever daily catastrophe was happening.

First, Sven's sheep had been intentionally let out of their pen and the dragon riders were ordered to retrieve them. Then all of Gobber's interchangeable hands (but for the one he had been wearing at the time) had been stolen, once again the dragon riders were enlisted to recover them. Next it was the nets for all of Berk's fishing boats. And nearly every time they were retrieving or recovering something, she and Hiccup found themselves alone for periods of time, which had resulted in a lot of staring, stammering and blushing on her part. By the end of the week Astrid had a fair idea who was behind these little incidents. She was on her way to Great Hall to confront this individual when she noticed the familiar group of girls gathered at the forge.

'Perfect,' Astrid smirked to herself and she strode over the forge. Hiccup looked like he was about to blow up again. Astrid unstrapped her axe from her back, grasped the handle tightly, aimed carefully and looped the axe at the forge service counter. With a satisfying thunk, her axe wedged itself into the benchtop and the group of girls fell silent. Astrid sashayed up to the window and pulled her axe out of the counter, all as if this was perfectly normal. She turned to the group of girls who were eyeing her with a mixture of fear and awe.

"If I catch any one of you annoying Hiccup again, I'll bludgeon you or run you through with my axe, or whatever I think will help the message sink in," Astrid growled. "Now get out of here before I ground you all for a week and put you on stable clean up duty!"

The girls scampered away immediately. _'Oh Gods, I just sounded like a jealous girlfriend!'_ Astrid thought. _'Looks like I took Ruff's advice after all. Wait. I hope Hiccup didn't think I was jealous. Ugh, I should have just let Ruff beat them all up.'_ Turning back to Hiccup, Astrid brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at him shyly. She hadn't intended to be that forceful, _not really_, but part of her had enjoyed it a lot. "Problem solved I think."

"I uh, I didn't think about threatening them," Hiccup gave her an embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "And even if I did, what you just did would have been far more effective than anything I would have done." For a moment they just stood there, smiling awkwardly at each other.

"Come on, Hiccup! We've got work to get on with!"

Astrid titled her head to see Gobber watching from the back of the forge. He caught her eye and gave her a knowing wink and smile before turning his attention back to the sword he was hammering at.

"I better get on with it," Hiccup said. "See you at dinner?"

"Sure!"

Turning, Astrid continued on to the Hall. Ruffnut was sitting at the same table they had occupied for lunch earlier in the week, gnawing at a leg of chicken. Astrid filled a plate and took a seat opposite Ruffnut.

"It's the end of the week, Hoff. Still got the hots for Hiccup?"

Astrid blushed and nodded her head (she felt like her face was permanently on fire these days). "Can't say that my plan to avoid him worked all that well. It's almost as if _someone_ was organising things to keep happening so that I couldn't avoid him." She gave Ruffnut a knowing look.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ruffnut stated innocently.

"Uh huh."

"You know I feel kind of bad for Hiccup," Ruffnut said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean, Ruff?" Astrid asked, confused.

"All of that crazy stuff he used to do to get your attention when we were younger was a waste of time. Someone should have told him that all he had to do was get tall and hot."

"Ruff, what in Thor's name are you talking about?"

Ruffnut stared at Astrid in disbelief. "Oh Astrid-please, _please_ don't tell me that you don't _know._"

"Know what?" Astrid was completely lost at this stage.

Before Ruffnut could answer, Tuffnut took a seat next to his sister and the moment was lost. The twins' banter started up and Astrid ate the rest of her meal in silence.

Hours later, Astrid lay awake in her bed staring at the ceiling. A week ago everything had been turned upside down. She had a crush on her best friend that wasn't disappearing and caused her to become a blushing, stammering fool in his presence. It felt like it was getting stronger the more time she spent with him. And thanks to Ruffnut's scheming, all she had basically done in the last week was spend time with Hiccup.

Astrid wondered what Ruffnut had been about to tell her about Hiccup. What didn't she know? She replayed Ruffnut's words over and over in head. So Hiccup had done crazy stunts in the past to get her to notice him. Did that mean Hiccup had liked her too at some point? And if he did, did he still like her now? Astrid took a deep calming breath. Even if Ruffnut had been about to tell her that Hiccup had feelings for her, there was only one way to confirm if that was really true. It had still only been a week and Astrid was no where near ready to make any mention of her feelings to Hiccup. Since it was apparent that her feelings weren't going to disappear as quickly as they'd arrived, all she had to do now was stop blushing and stumbling over her words, and just be herself when she was around Hiccup. And if she could do that, then maybe in time she could find out if Hiccup felt the same way.

And that's the third chapter done! Did you like it? Did you not like it? I do apologise for not getting this out quicker, but my studies come first, and I found certain parts of this chapter difficult to write, so there was a fair amount of editing and rewriting. The twins are a challenge to write to make them sound funny and entertaining and not just silly (even if there isn't a lot of them together in this chapter).

Also, just wanted to address a point that a very kind reviewer left from the last chapter. I am aware that the writers/directors have already confirmed that Astrid had a crush on Hiccup during the first film. I'm not trying to put that across as anything original by me, I'm just taking that information and shaping it into this story (which is what we all do as fanfic writers, right?). So I hope that makes it clearer for you.

As always, feedback is always welcome. Thanks to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed, it's great encouragement. The plot well and truly advances next chapter, I promise.

Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing!

Slow Burn Chapter 4

Two months had passed since Astrid's new found revelation. The stomach butterflies were now under control and her face wasn't glowing pink or red as frequently anymore. On the other hand, her feelings for Hiccup were not changing at all. If anything they were getting stronger, and Astrid found herself paying far more attention to Hiccup than usual. She became acutely aware how often he sought her out to discuss matters related to the academy, or to get her opinion on the design of a new invention, and how he used his hands and shoulders to express what he was feeling. They spent a lot of time together and Astrid began to find herself thinking about how easily they could be more than friends.

There was just one tiny thing holding her back: what if things between them did change and it didn't work? What if they were just great friends as well as battle partners and that was it? What if Hiccup didn't return her feelings? How would their friendship recover? Could their friendship recover? This was the great unknown and that had lead to a new conundrum: was their friendship worth risking Astrid confessing how she felt? She had to have more than just an inkling, had to have more than just her gut feeling that her feelings were not unrequited. Astrid wasn't sure how her pride would recover if she was wrong and all of this was just some fanciful daydream. She had to protect her heart.

Presently, there was no time to waste deciphering what Hiccup's words and actions meant as the whole village was in the swing of preparing for the mid-summer festival. Not quite the same holiday status as Snoggletog (no gifts were exchanged), but the Berkians held the mid-summer festival in high regard as it marked the beginning of crop planting season, and it was believed a good celebration earned a favourable harvest from the gods.

It also held significance within the tribe as a coming of age ceremony. Those that had turned 18 since the last festival were now regarded as adults within the community. It wasn't much of a ceremony; you stood when the Chief asked those that had had their 18th birthday since the last festival to stand, the head of your family vouched for you, you drank to the village's toast and proceeded to drink a lot more after that. Ruff and Tuff had been talking about it for weeks. Astrid also predicted they would challenge Snotlout to a drinking contest, simply because he'd opened his mouth to boast that his drinking prowess matched his high warrior status within the tribe. Astrid and Hiccup had shared a good chuckle over that one.

The celebration lasted a full day with weapons contests like spear and axe throwing, baking contests, eating contests, drinking contests and of course, a dragon race for good measure. An enormous feast was held in the Great Hall that night and lasted well into the night. The mid-summer festival was always a good time and Astrid couldn't wait. However, the village had to be prepared first and Astrid found herself in the village plaza with Snotlout and their respective dragons hanging lanterns that had meant to be hung up the day before. (Astrid suspected who had been given the job first, but failed to do it due to a lack of danger, explosions and general concentration.)

"Okay Snotlout, this really shouldn't take us more than ten minutes to set up, since the lanterns have already been strung together. I'm thinking I just get Stormfly to shoot some pines into the posts around the square and that'll give us something to tie the lanterns to?" Astrid suggested, mentally marking the locations for Stormfly to aim at.

"Sure, let's get this over with." For Snotlout, that was a cooperative response.

Astrid turned to her dragon and smiled. "Okay, girl! I need a single spine shot on each of these posts!" Astrid instructed pointing to each target. Stormfly whipped her tail and with impressive speed and accuracy, the spines planted firmly into the wood with a satisfying _thunk_.

Snotlout was walking over to her, a jumble of rope connected lanterns in his arms. "You take one end, I'll take the other. I think this chain is the longest so let's use the biggest gap."

"Snotlout are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, why?"

"You're not this helpful or cooperative…..like ever."

"Look, let's just get this over with. I need to test the sheep launcher before the race tomorrow and I want to get some race practice with Hooky in so I can win tomorrow." There was a distinct lack of bravado in his voice. Very un-Snotlout like.

Astrid blinked. "Oh-oh yeah. No problem. Let's -uh- get these lights hung up."

They worked quickly and quietly and without complaint from the Jorgenson boy. Astrid wasn't sure what to make of the situation. As she and Snotlout dismounted from their dragons, the twins had sidled into the plaza.

"Ohhh look who it is!" Snotlout drawled, pointing an accusatory finger at the twins. "I hope you two have been over to Sven's to paint the sheep for the race tomorrow!"

Ruffnut stared at Snotlout like he'd grown a second head. "Uh, since when do you give us orders?"

"And no, we've been plotting how to best set fire to the lanterns tomorrow night," Tuffnut stated. Ruffnut belted him over the head. "What did we talk about? Keep the plan a secret!" She screeched at her brother.

"Ow! You ugly she-beast! I'll get you for – Uh oh! Sis we gotta move! Stoick's coming this way! Quick, look busy!" They took off.

"Sven's farm is in the other direction!" Snotlout called after them. "I swear those two get away with too much!" Snotlout grumbled.

"What's gotten into you this morning?" Astrid queried, hand on her hip.

Snotlout looked at Astrid, an uncomfortable look on his face. He fiddled with his tunic.

"Snot, what it is?"

Snotlout took a deep breath. "Do-do you think Stoick is going to name Hiccup as his heir tomorrow night?" Snotlout asked her quietly, an anxious look on his face.

Astrid had been totally unprepared for that question. She blinked at Snotlout. Stoick was upon them before she could answer though.

"Ah, the lanterns are up, _finally_," he glared in the direction the twins had gone. "Good work you two! Carry on!"

"Thanks Chief!" Astrid replied. She turned back to Snotlout when Stoick was out of earshot.

"Look, nevermind!" Snotlout said hurriedly. "I'm going to test the sheep launcher!" Before Astrid could stop him he had vaulted into Hookfang's saddle and taken to the air.

Astrid watched him fly off, completely bewildered. Why would Snotlout look so anxious about whether or not Stoick was going to name Hiccup heir? Of course Stoick was going to name Hiccup heir; why wouldn't he? Something was going on with Snotlout. Astrid pushed it aside. Right now, there was work to do and she headed off to her next task.

Hours later the chores done, ready for the celebration tomorrow and the dragon riders found themselves sitting around a fire, atop one of the watch towers like they had done with Gobber during dragon training some years earlier. Snotlout was tending to the chickens they were roasting; Astrid had to admit he actually did have a knack for a good roast.

"Well, we swiped chickens for the roast," Tuffnut grinned proudly. "And we also swiped a small barrel of the good stuff in preparation for tomorrow night! Voila!" Ruffnut whipped out a very small, corked wooden barrel from behind their backs and plonked it in the middle of the group.

"What do you say, Snot? Think you'll be the last man standing, or end up _Snot_-faced before the end of your third mug?" Ruffnut challenged, smirking.

Snotlout glanced at Ruff, his irritation clear by the frown on his face but he made no effort to reply.

"He's in the roast zone Sis," Tuff commented sagely. "Nothing's getting through to the Snot-man right now."

"Just as well," Ruff grinned. "He's going to need to be in prime condition if he's going to last tomorrow night. Let's face it, he couldn't out drink us two nights in a row, let alone one!"

It was evident that it was taking all of the concentration and discipline that Snotlout possessed not to open his mouth and reply. And given that Snotlout was well, Snotlout, his concentration and discipline was likely to run out soon. Astrid shifted closer to the fire, ready to take over roast duties should Snotlout snap. Astrid knew she wasn't the best cook in the world (she knew now the gang only took a mug of Yaknog out of politeness) but she could at the very least stop the chickens from burning.

"He's not just in the roast zone, he's in the chicken zone! Seeing as he is a chicken," Tuffnut guffawed, unnecessarily overexplaining his joke.

"And the chickens are ready!" Snotlout declared. "Ladies first," he winked as he handed Astrid a spear. Astrid rolled her eyes but thanked him none the less. "You two!" He glared at the twins. "Next time, I'm roasting you idiots over an open fire!"

The five of them began to dig into their chicken (and the twins into their barrel) and after taking a bite, Astrid realised someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Hiccup?" The question was to no one in particular, but everyone had the same answer: no one had really seen him during the day after being busy with chores.

Astrid stood up and peered over the barrier of the tower, scanning the village below for a sign of the lanky dragon rider. The lanterns strung up all over the village square and the stalls dotted all over the place impeded her view a bit, but she was sure she could see light flickering from the forge.

"I'm going to take a quick look over the village to see if I can find him," she caught Ruffs eye who smirked and waggled her eyebrows. Astrid resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "Tuff! Don't take my chicken," she warned as she set her plate back down.

"Hey, you leave it, you lose it missy!" Tuff called out after her.

Astrid made her way down the stairs into the village, the forge her first destination. Most of the village had retired for the night to either the Great Hall or their own homes, so her walk was shorter without having to weave through the crowd. She checked on the threshold of the smithy. The hearth was still well lit and its stifling heat reached all the way to the doorway where she stood. Gobber was absent, as were any customers.

"Hiccup?" she called out. No answer. She stepped her way carefully through the forge. There was candlelight coming from that little area in the back Hiccup liked to seclude himself in. Astrid paused and knocked on the doorframe. "Hiccup, are you back here?"

There was a rustling noise, like papers being shuffled, then a chair being pushed back over ground hurriedly before Hiccup appeared in the doorway.

"Ast-Astrid! Hey! What-what are you doing here?"

Astrid quirked an eyebrow. "Looking for you," she took in the look on his face. Something seemed…off.

"Oh! Oh right. Well, what did you need?" Even his voice sounded off. It was too high and the pleasant tone seemed a bit forced.

"It's our cook out before mid-summer festival starts tomorrow, remember? You reminded everyone this morning."

Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Oh Gods, I totally forgot," he groaned tiredly. "I've been working on something in here and I lost total track of time. I'm sorry."

"Hiccup, it's okay. If we head back now, there'll still be some chicken left," Astrid smiled at him.

Hiccup returned the smile but it didn't reach his eyes. "Okay, yeah. Let's go."

They walked side by side back across the village square and an unusual quiet settled between them. Astrid tried to engage him in conversation, but Hiccup didn't offer much in the way of a response and he avoided looking at her. Concerned, Astrid bit her lip and let the silence hang awkwardly between them. Something had to be on Hiccup's mind; the absence of their usual conversation and banter was a tell-tale sign. Maybe he would feel better after something to eat.

They stepped onto the landing of the watch tower and Astrid watched as Hiccup forced a smile onto his face and enthusiastically greeted their friends. He took a seat next to Fishlegs and Snotlout nonchalantly passed him a roasted chicken speared by a fork.

"Thanks Snotlout. This actually smells really good." Hiccup didn't bother to even hide his astonishment.

"It should, I cooked it," Snotlout said matter of factly, positioning another speared chicken over the fire. He smiled flirtatiously at Astrid. "See how well I can provide babe?"

"Keep dreaming Snotlout," Astrid deadpanned. Suddenly, he appeared to be back to normal.

"Of you babe? I do, all the time."

"Snotlout, leave Astrid alone," Fishlegs scolded.

"Thanks Fish," Astrid smiled graciously at the large blonde boy. "But I stopped letting this muttonhead get to me years ago."

"Muttonhead? Is that any way to speak about your future husband?"

Astrid gave a dry, humourless laugh. "Not in this life or the next Snotlout!"

"Yeah Snot-man, _I've_ got a better chance of marrying Astrid than you do, and Astrid yells at me more than she does anyone else!" Tuffnut put an arm around Snotlout's shoulders. "Wine to drown your sorrows?"

Ruffnut patted the barrel and grinned. "There's plenty to share."

"Guys come on! This is going to be our last cook out before a mid-summer festival for a while," Fishlegs pleaded. "We should make it special somehow!"

"We are making it special Fish, we have wine and we're ripping on Snotty!" Tuffnut smirked.

"Ugh, shut up you two! Fish-face, why would this be our last cook out before a mid-summer festival?" Snotlout folded his arms.

"Well," Fishlegs twiddled with his hands nervously. "We're all going to be of age tomorrow night, and things will just….change." The word hung in the air and settled slowly over the group, as each one of them realised the meaning behind Fishlegs' words; their childhood was practically over and adulthood was coming quickly, whether they wanted it to or not.

"How do you want to make it special Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, breaking the silence that had come over the teens.

"I don't know, tell stories or something?" Fishlegs suggested.

"Stories it is," Hiccup nodded decisively. "Who wants to go first?"

Tuffnut's hand shot straight into the air. "Ooooh me! Me! Pick me!"

"Take it away Tuff!"

"Okay, so our great uncle Tinknut once discovered….."

The night wore on with reminiscing of their childhood, jokes and good natured banter. Snotlout wore out and was the first to retire. He hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, much to the twins dissatisfaction, but he had looked them both dead in the eyes and stated they had best ready themselves for a challenge tomorrow night. Fishlegs had left next, realising he hadn't given Meatlug her pre-bedtime rub down and needed to apologise. The twins were still making their way through their barrel of wine, talking quietly about tomorrow's festivities and how best they could disrupt them. Hiccup was staring into the fire, idly twirling the empty roasting spear in his fingers, his mind far away, and Astrid was watching Hiccup, wondering what he was thinking about.

"Confessed yet?" Ruffnut had slipped into the empty seat next to her without her noticing. Astrid jumped slightly.

"No!" Astrid hissed, annoyed.

"You know, if you keep staring at him like that you'll burn holes in him."

"I'm not staring!"

"Then are you trying to tell him you secretly love him telepathically?"

"I don't-"

Ruffnut held up her hand. "Do not finish that sentence and say you don't because we would both know that that is a lie."

Astrid's patience was dying quicker than the fire in front of her. "I am concerned for my friend because he doesn't seem himself."

"Well, maybe a little alone time with his favourite flaxen haired friend will cheer him up," Ruffnut winked slyly.

Astrid let out a growl. "Gods I can barely deal with you when your sober. How in the hells am I going to cope with you drunk?"

Tuffnut looked over from where he was talking Hiccup's ear off (Hiccup was nodding and 'Mmmhmming' disinterestedly). "We're not drunk, Astrid. This is fruit juice. We're trying to psyche Snotlout out so he overcommits tomorrow night."

Astrid took a second to marvel at the twins' level of strategy, planning and commitment to their cause and vaguely wondered if anyone, anywhere could ever get them to harness their collective talents and put it into something useful.

"I'm only getting to you because I'm right," Ruffnut patted her arm and drained the last of her mug. "Why not take advantage of the romantic setting and alone time." Ruffnut stood up and gestured to her brother.

"Ruff wait!" Astrid hissed but Ruffnut paid her no attention.

"Speaking of tomorrow night, we should retire brother. Tomorrow is a long day, and tomorrow night is likely to stretch into the following morning."

"Okay, but let's finish the barrel on the way home and leave it outside Snotlout's house. Really goad him."

The twins left, clattering noisily down the stairs, arguing about who got to hold the fruit juice barrel and who got to drink the last of it. Astrid looked over at Hiccup at the same time Hiccup looked at her. Hiccup looked away very quickly and stared back at the fire. An awkward silence filled the space between them. Astrid conceded that Ruff did have a bit of a point, this would be a perfectly good moment to say something, but Hiccup was a million miles away. Would he even comprehend what she might say if she said anything? Sighing, Astrid pushed her feelings aside and decided to be a good friend first.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" Astrid winced a bit at her tone. It sounded a bit accusatory, like he was hiding something.

Hiccup looked over at her startled, but Astrid couldn't tell if it was from her voice or if he had forgotten she was there, as though he hadn't made eye contact with her seconds ago. He forced a smile onto his face. "Nothing's wrong, Astrid."

Astrid wasn't buying it. "You've barely said anything to anyone all night and you've been having a staring contest with the fire for hours. So what's going on?"

Hiccup looked back at the fire but didn't respond. He looked conflicted, like he was debating with himself whether to open up to her or not. Sensing she might need to coax and not push him, Astrid changed her tactic.

"Look, a few weeks ago you told me you would listen if I wanted to talk. Now I'm offering the same to you, if you want to tell me what it is I'll listen." Her voice was softer and gentler. That seemed to do the trick.

Hiccup got up from his spot opposite her and took the empty seat next to her. The benches were much smaller now that they weren't children anymore; their legs and their shoulders were touching but Hiccup didn't move nor ask her to move. Astrid reasoned that she could still be a good friend and listen to him, whilst also enjoying being this close to him, so she made no effort to move either.

"Tomorrow's the mid-summer festival which means at the coming at age ceremony, Dad's going to officially announce me as heir to Berk," Hiccup stated plainly.

"Hiccup that's amazing!" Astrid exclaimed. Her smile quickly faded at the pained look on his face. "Or…or not."

Hiccup sighed heavily. "In a way it is amazing. I've only ever truly wanted a few things, one of those things being my Dad's acceptance and approval. The second being for everyone in this village to not think I'm a total screw up." Astrid listened intently, watching as his gaze shifted from the fire to his boots. He took a deep breath before saying quietly: "Before I met Toothless I always thought he would name someone else as his successor, and so every time I caused a disaster trying to impress him, I brushed it off and tried again because I felt like I had nothing to lose." Hiccup wore his heart on his sleeve and she highly suspected he had always craved approval from his father (his countless disappointed and dejected looks from when they were much younger were a tell-tale sign), but he had never openly admitted it to her.

H iccup glanced up from his boots to tentatively look at her, perhaps expecting harsh judgment. "And now?" she prompted gently. He looked back to the fire.

" Now that he is going to name me as heir I feel like I've got so much to live up to. My Dad's a great Chief, and I just don't want to disappoint him like I used to. I'm not a leader, or a great warrior, or good at speeches or - or any of the things that Chiefs are. I've never wanted to be Chief of Berk. I'm not my Dad and…and I don't know if being Chief is _me_." Astrid smiled softly to herself. He'd come so far in the last three years and he didn't even realise it.

"It's not just being Chief that scares me a bit though. Once Dad makes the announcement, everything will change. My learning to become Chief will fast track, Dad will start talking about marriage and all sorts of things I'm not ready for," he ran an anxious hand through his hair. Astrid's stomach wriggled as he uttered the word 'marriage.' But of course: the Chief was expected to provide an heir, and Hiccup getting married was central to that convention. It dawned on Astrid that their coming of age had greater implications for Hiccup than it did for her or the rest of their friends.

"I've been trying to work out a plan for the academy so that someone else can take over it, and design a new saddle for Toothless so that someone else besides me can ride him in case I'm too busy and all these other little things keep popping up that I need to plan for. And it's so hard Astrid! They're just simple things, and if I can't do those simple things right now, how in Thor's name can I run a village one day!" He gestured angrily to the fire with his hand before picking up his discarded roasting spear and jabbing angrily at the burning embers.

Astrid took a few moments to digest everything Hiccup had said before she replied. "You don't have to have everything worked out right now Hiccup. You're not becoming Chief of Berk tomorrow. Yeah, one day you will be, but your Dad won't hand it over to you once you're prepared."

"I don't think I could ever be fully prepared for all of what it is," Hiccup murmured. "It's not me, Astrid."

Astrid put her hand on his shoulder. Hiccup turned and looked at her. "I think you'll be a great Chief one day," Astrid told him sincerely.

"You do?" Hiccup sounded sceptical.

"I really do," Astrid nodded. "Think about everything you've done in the last three years. Hiccup, you saw something that no one else did for three hundred years. You gave everyone on Berk an incredible way of life! Berk is better because of you Hiccup, and those things that make you different from everyone else is the reason you'll be a great Chief one day." For the first time that night, a real smile lit up Hiccup's face. The butterflies stirred but Astrid kept her composure and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "So, instead of having your training fast tracked, what do you want to happen next?"

Hiccup was quiet for a few moments before he answered resolutely "I want to go beyond the archipelago."

Astrid's eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to say that. Not for three hundred years, not since Vikings had first sailed to the island and founded Berk, had anyone gone beyond the archipelago. Merchant ships traded goods they needed and passed on sceptical snippets of information in the form of stories (Trader Johann sprung to mind), and there was often enough conflict between the islands themselves that it didn't make much sense to go courting it anywhere else. There wasn't really a reason for anyone to go beyond the group of neighbouring islands, and most Vikings weren't really interested in the world beyond their village. Then again, Hiccup Haddock was not your average Viking.

"I want to explore new lands and discover new species of dragons. Maybe see if there are other villages out there that have learned to co-exist with them and learn from them, maybe build new alliances," Hiccup took a deep breath and sighed. "I know that if I stay here and start my training straight away, Dad will want me to do everything his way and in his time. And he's a great Chief, don't get me wrong! It's just- I am not my Dad, I don't know how to be him. I only know how to be myself, but I feel like there's something I need to find, or do, first before I start learning to become Chief."

"What if you go out there and don't find what you're looking for?" Astrid asked softly.

Hiccup turned his head and looked at her. "I think I'm more afraid of not being able to take the journey at all, than coming back empty handed. So, what do you think?"

Astrid laughed and shook her head. "Okay first of all, I think you're crazy. Amazing, but crazy. Secondly, I think you should talk to your Dad."

Hiccup's face fell a little bit and he looked away. "You don't think it's a good idea?"

"I don't think you need to leave Berk to find what you're looking for."

"I want to do this. I _need_ to do this," Hiccup implored.

Astrid sighed dramatically. "Well, I guess if you're set on galivanting beyond the archipelago, I'd better come with you to keep you out of trouble."

"Really? You'd want to come?" Hiccup smiled excitedly.

"Hiccup you're a magnet for danger."

"Agreed, but besides that - you'd really come with me?"

Astrid stared back into his eyes. "You're my best friend, of course I'd go with you."

Hiccup's smile widened and he pulled her into a tight hug. Astrid allowed the butterflies in her stomach to get carried away with how nice his arms felt around her and how well they fit together. Astrid wrapped her arms around him and didn't move out of his grasp.

Hiccup pulled back a little to look her in the eyes. "Thank you," he murmured, a tender smile on his face. Astrid became hyper aware of how close together their faces were; their noses were almost touching. Astrid's breath caught in her throat. "Anytime," she whispered back. Her eyes darted to his lips; all she had to do was close the tiny gap…

"_There you two are!"_

Gobber's voice tore through the tender moment and the two teens sprang apart, putting as much distance between each other as they could on the small bench. Gobber's mouth formed a tiny smirk.

"What were you two up to?"

"Nothing!" They both answered quickly, sounding incredibly guilty over nothing at all. Gobber's smirk spread.

"We were just talking Gobber," Hiccup said, a tiny edge of annoyance in his voice. He stood up and retrieved the roasting spit from the fire and spiked into a bucket of sand with the others.

"Right well, the Great Hall is empty and everyone is off ter bed. You two should be too," Gobber turned to Astrid. "Yer parents are looking for ye, lass."

Astrid knew that was her cue to leave. But first – standing up she crossed the tiny distance Hiccup was standing away from her and knocked her fist into his shoulder.

"Ow-hey! What was that for?" Hiccup cried incredulously. She hadn't hurt him, just surprised him. Astrid kept her face expressionless. "For thinking you wouldn't be a good Chief one day," she said plainly. Hiccup shook his head wordlessly at her. Astrid smirked, and not caring that Gobber was standing mere feet away, placed both her hands on Hiccups chest and kissed him right on the corner of his mouth, his breath hitching as her lips touched his skin. She could feel his heart pounding underneath her right hand. It set off the butterflies in her stomach again. Astrid pulled away after letting it linger just the right amount of time and brushed her bangs away from her face. "Good night, Hiccup." Turning on her heel Astrid sauntered quickly from the watch tower, barely even looking at Gobber, who looked highly amused at the whole thing, as she bade him good night on the way past.

Scarpering down the steps as quick as her feet would carry her, Astrid allowed a small, girlish giggle to escape her lips. His heart had been beating so hard underneath her fingers she thought it was going to break through his ribcage, and his face had been scarlet red when she pulled away, adorably awestruck. Good, Astrid thought with a self-satisfied smirk. It wasn't a confession by any stretch of the imagination, but it was certainly an anvil sized hint. As soon as her feet hit the dirt, Astrid ran the rest of the way home.

Well hello there!

I do apologise for the delay, but study has been kicking my ass a bit lately. The next instalment should be up much quicker, but it's also going to take a couple of weeks. Exams, ya know?

So, I've finally settled on a direction for this story, outside of the whole Hiccstrid plot. I'm not giving anything away, you'll just have to buckle up for the ride.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited, followed etc.

Til next time!


End file.
